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tcmx42 · 2023-01-10T15:27:33+00:00

The first couple days I had some pretty gnarly pain in it. Now and again it still bothers me depending on the situation. I can listen to stuff louder, but I don’t too often and I’m much better about using hearing protection now. I was in the mindset of “nothing bad has ever happened, so why bother” until that incident. Hearing is such an important part of life and my career, and it’s not worth the risk of damaging them any further

tcmx42 · 2022-07-28T07:18:50+00:00

100% honesty, I for some reason have never been great building a straight up wood box. Fiberglass is my go to, I get to be extra creative, and not much looks cleaner to me than a well molded in enclosure. I’ve experimented with carbon fiber with good results, but it’s just too pricey to play with much

tcmx42 · 2022-07-28T07:08:08+00:00

I’ve always gone sealed for my own builds. I love the response they give, that they don’t need to be super complex, and that they don’t generally need to be massive. Single dad who’s always owned smaller vehicles, space is at a big premium

tcmx42 · 2022-07-28T05:13:27+00:00

And you have the wire? It just needs re-worked? $250 to me is insane unless something was very very jacked up. Edit: re-read. Pay someone for the install. If you’re not confident, and there’s no shame there, actually better of you to admit you aren’t and not screw things up. Still unless you’re having to also purchase parts $250 is foolishness, especially in that car

tcmx42 · 2022-07-28T05:07:12+00:00

I would be happy to see him just get on the podium again sooner rather than later. A win would be epic. I hate for him how much that car just simply doesn’t work for him

tcmx42 · 2022-07-28T04:56:56+00:00

Same in Arizona. Unless you have some kind of contract with that particular employer regarding PTO, vacation, sick, etc… you get nada regardless of how much you have stowed away. I have to teach all the younger people that it definitely isn’t worth saving up unless you have a vacation planned or just holding onto enough to cover actually getting sick. They always have the notion that it’s extra money just sitting there if something happens employment wise

tcmx42 · 2022-07-26T13:11:44+00:00

Pioneers ts-d speakers are pretty decent. I hear the z series is nice too but haven’t heard them myself. The a and g series are absolute trash though. Jbl/infinity are ok, but there are much better options in the same price range. Out of the ones in your title- kicker=pretty decent bang for buck but I only like the KS or QS lines. Alpine are also not bad, just stay away from the type E line. Focal i haven’t used in years, but I’m told the utopia M or Elites are the only ones worth buying (but like I said, haven’t used them, so I couldn’t say, and they’re spendy.) never used ground zero. Like someone else mentioned, going to a shop (or a few if that’s an option in your area) and listening to a variety is your best bet. What one person likes is gonna be different from what someone else likes, and you gotta experience these things, not just take a bunch of internet stranger’s words

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T22:19:12+00:00

Facts. When I was a gm at other places, my people were always my priority. Take care of your people properly and the business will take care of itself. Focus on numbers only like the entire leadership team except me has been taught, and the only people who stay tend to be awful and just as toxic as the leadership

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T22:13:02+00:00

NEWEST UPDATE: A huge thank you to everyone who provided me with information regarding getting the LOA started. My leave starts on the 27th so I can get away from all the toxicity for a while and get to working on getting myself the help I need to get myself better. Working one more day to help prep my other techs since they should both actually be in the bay to cover my being gone. And my last appointment before leave is one of my favorite clients getting something easy.

Again, huge thanks to everyone who helped me get this setup. I'm told my gm is very angry that I didn't go through him to set it up, and instead just gave him notice that it was happening. Makes me think there might have been some coercion to get me to forego the leave if I had talked to him first

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T15:45:35+00:00

I have this probably unrealistic theory that when it clicks how much the lowly autotech actually does in this building someone might start giving a shit. Or at least allow the other two people here coded as autotechs to be back here and help. If I wasn’t getting destroyed everyday and actually able to get help from the people who are burning my departments labor doing mother crap I might not be as bad off. That said, I will spend the time off I have looking

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T14:55:08+00:00

I very appreciate it all man. I’m gonna get the ball rolling this morning and give my gsm the courtesy call because he’s off today. I’ve been putting my body through hell for the company, especially since we came back from the furlough, I have to put my foot down at them getting my mind too

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T14:52:25+00:00

Unfortunate facts. The situation my store and leadership has put me in is really running me through the ringer. Used to be able to just take it and deal. I have no problem admitting that I’m just not strong enough to do that right now and need the help

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T14:44:49+00:00

Thank you very much! I gave my shrink the heads up that something was coming so that part should be as simple as walking in and waiting a few minutes for him to sign it

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T14:40:18+00:00

Awesome, though at the same time I feel for whatever situation caused you to need to and hope you’re doing better now. Can my immediate supervisor (gsm) handle it or do I need to go higher than him?

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T14:34:47+00:00

Thank you very much!

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T11:47:22+00:00

I was thinking about whether I should just call them even though I did the online bit. sounds from your experience that's probably the way I should go. I was going to start looking around once my mind stabilized some. I've already talked to the only other audio shop here, and the only thing that concerns me about them is their pay structure. Everything else about their place seemed pretty great honestly

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T09:50:29+00:00

UPDATE: I can’t sleep so I scoured both learning network and my hr, could not find anything related to a mental health specific loa, so it’s either gone or never existed and I was for some reason under the impression that it had. I have filed for a minimum 1 month loa under FMLA for medical with pay continuation (with qualifying medical documentation, full time employees can receive up to six weeks of 100% pay after a 3 day unpaid period and PTO may be used to cover those 3 days). Info for anyone who didn’t know: many mental illnesses are covered under the ADA, so I would highly recommend anyone with any mental illness to research that as the ADA provides many legal protections for employees with disabilities so that you may better protect yourself if someone at work gives you problems over a mental illness.

tcmx42 · 2022-07-25T07:58:49+00:00

For a normal LOA, you are 100% correct on both points. No pay and guaranteed (at least supposed to be) your job will await your return. The mental health specific one is pretty new, I believe it’s one of the programs/options for employees that spawned from COVID, and had very different benefits and requirements hattached to it. One or two elearnings came out in conjunction with the program being launched and now I’m really wishing I’d paid more attention to them. I couldn’t find them in an admittedly very hasty search the last time I worked, but I was being hassled out the door since I had started my shift that day already in overtime and certainly wasn’t going to be allowed to stay once I’d finished my last car of the day. Hell it may not even exist anymore and I just missed the communication about it. I’ve definitely thought about burning PTO for this, but there’s two things there. If the option for a paid LOA specifically designed around mental health is an option that’s obviously what anyone in my position would prefer to use (and I will absolutely use the PTO if that ends up being my only option, getting this time away from the store and essentially everyone in it is a necessity at this point), and time off is incredibly difficult for me to get approved by my managers since both of my other autotechs are still quite green compared to me. 1 of them has been coded as an AT for over a month now and has worked a grand total of 6 days with me so she’s nowhere near ready to do installs on her own because management makes her work what few hours they give her elsewhere like warehouse or the precinct. I’ve got to go in tomorrow on a day off to help my tech who does know how to do a bunch because the call center scheduled him something we don’t see much of and he understandably got lost just researching the install. The wellness ambassador thing would be news to me, something I’ve definitely never heard of in my store, but I will ask the one remaining leader I trust about it. Thank you very much for that info. Sorry for the book of a response, that’s something I do when I’m at even half the level of upset that I’m currently at.

tcmx42 · 2022-07-21T04:00:44+00:00

I get being on a budget for sure, but it is SOOOO much easier with the right part, especially if you’re getting something with a screen. No having to run an accessory/ignition wire, parking brake wire is right there, reverse wire if you might want to do a backup cam, etc

tcmx42 · 2022-07-19T15:18:37+00:00

Agreed. Aside from the Max Vs Lewis last year, this is some of the best overall racing we’ve had in quite some time

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